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Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs Las Vegas Raiders Betting Pick

The Week 7 NFL schedule includes a rematch of Super Bowl XXXVII between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Las Vegas Raiders. You could also call this the Gruden Bowl, as Jon Gruden coached the Bucs in that Super Bowl win over the Raiders. At the moment, Gruden and the 2020 Raiders are 4-point underdogs at home against Tampa Bay, with an over/under of 52.5 points.

If you watched Tom Brady and the Bucs dismantle the Packers last week, it’s easy to see why Tampa is a road favorite. One week after a devastating 1-point loss to the Bears, the Bucs crushed Green Bay 38-10, catapulting themselves into first place in the NFC South at 4-2. Alas, Tampa now faces the challenge of three road games in the next four weeks.

Gruden and the Raiders have had two weeks to bask in the glory of their win over Kansas City. Coming off back-to-back losses, Las Vegas needed a win in the worst way, and they got it against the reigning Super Bowl champs. The Raiders are still just 3-2 and two games behind the Chiefs, so they’ve got to keep it rolling coming out of their bye.

Drive My Carr

While his stock was down coming into the season, Derek Carr is off to a strong start in 2020. Through five games, he’s thrown 11 touchdown passes and just one interception. He’s also completing 73% of his passes, and averaging over eight yards per attempt. The Raiders can’t ask for too much more out of him than that. However, Las Vegas is still waiting for rookie receivers Henry Ruggs and Bryan Edwards to show a little more consistency. Nevertheless, Las Vegas has a top-10 offense, that’s scoring more than 30 points per game.

Carr and the Vegas offense could be in for a challenge this week after what the Tampa defense did to Aaron Rodgers last week. The Bucs had two interceptions against Rodgers, who we know rarely throws picks. Tampa’s defense is also averaging close to four sacks per game, and seemed to get consistent pressure on Rodgers last week, so they will be a challenge for the Las Vegas offensive line.

The Old Man

The Tampa offense seems to be slowly coming together behind Tom Brady. The biggest takeaway from last week’s win was running back Ronald Jones, who rushed for 113 yards and two touchdowns. Jones has gone over 100 yards in three straight games, and is averaging close to five yards per carry. If the Bucs continue to get that kind of production on the ground, Brady’s job gets much easier.

On the other hand, the Las Vegas defense has been one of the worst in the NFL this year. The Raiders have conceded at least 30 points in four of their five games this season. In fairness, they’ve played a difficult schedule. But there is still reason to be concerned for a team that has just seven sacks and three turnovers in five games.

Pirate Fight

All four of Tampa’s wins this season have come by comfortable margins, with seven points being their closest victory. The Raiders have enough shortcomings, especially on defense, to make that trend continue. The Bucs beat a team coming off a bye last week and they’ll do it again this week.

But on Tampa to win and cover in Las Vegas.

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